Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? An Update

In the summer of 2014, a mass of people in a cascading waterfall of icy water, undertook fund-raising for the ALS Association with the Ice Bucket Challenge. I was one of those, nominated by my brother, Ken. I had daughters volunteer to do the honors of dowsing me, but two out of three were pregnant and at their delivery dates. Not up to lifting a five-gallon gatorade jug, so I delegated (with much protesting from the daughters) that job to the Asotin Jr. High Cross Country team at our first practice.  Good times.

One of the places the research money went was to Project MinE. Per the news today:

In a study released on Monday, Project MinE revealed they found a significant association between loss-of-function NEK1 variants and risk of familial ALS. NEK1 maintains neuron cyberskeletons, among its many roles in neurons, according to the Rare Disease Foundation.

Nice to see progress against this dreadful disease.